Adjustable weed cutter for soy bean crops



Jan. 16, 1968 c. L. HINDS 3,363,408

ADJUSTABLE WEED CUTTER FOR SOY BEAN CROPS Filed March 19, 1965 23 I INVENTOR. so 24 (Mar/ea L- /7/'/7a5.

53 WA; 5 @fi United States Patent 3,363,408 ADJUSTABLE WEED CUTTER FOR SOY BEAN CROPS Charles L. Hinds, Lawton, Iowa 51030 Filed Mar. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 441,163 1 Claim. (Cl. 5625.4)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A weed cutter for cutting weeds in row crops including a cutting member vertically adjustably mounted on the front of a tractor, the vertical adjustment being effected by hydraulic means, the cutters being driven from the power take-off of the tractor by means of belts.

My invention relates to an adjustable weed cutter for soy bean and other crops.

An object of my invention is to provide a cutter which can be adjusted vertically to any desired height.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cutter of this type which can be attached to tractors of varying widths.

A further object of my invention is to provide a guard arrangement which guard arrangement will automatically concentrate the weeds between the guards to provide a better cutting action, etc.

A further object of my invention is to provide a hydraulic arrangement for raising and lowering the unit, and to provide means whereby the unit can be powered regardless of its vertical height.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the cutter,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines 5--5 of FIGURE 1.

In describing my invention I have used the character to designate the hood of a tractor, the character 11 indicating the supporting framework of the tractor, the character 12 indicating the standard driven shaft, the character 13 indicating the pulley.

The character 14 indicates the forward wheels, and the character 15 the spindle for steering the wheels.

In describing my cutter arrangement, I have used the character 16 to designate channel members attached by the bolts 17 to the tractor portions 11, and mounted on one of the members 16 is a pulley 18, which is driven by means of the belt 19 which belt engages the pulley 13.

The pulley 18 drives a shaft 20 journalled in the bracket 21 which bracket is attached to the member 16, and the shaft 20 drives a further pulley 22, and engaging the pulley 22 is a belt 23 which drives a lower pulley 24, the character 25 indicating an idler pulley which pulley engages the belt 23. The idler pulley 25 is journalled on the end 26 of an arm 27 which includes a lower portion 28 journalled in a suitable bearing 29 which is attached to the top Wall 30 of the cutter unit, this unit also including the side wall 31 having the curved skid surfaces as at 32. Secured to the channel 16 are the vertically positioned rectangular members 33 which receive the rectangular-in-section posts or supports 34, and the members 34 are secured to the lower angle members ICC 35 by means of the bolts 36 passing through the vertical slots 37.

Attached to the members 33 (see FIGURE 4) are the opposed angle members 38, and received within the opposed pairs of these angle members is the rod 39 firmly secured to the angles 38 by the bolts 40, the angle members 38 including spaced openings to permit adjustable attachment of the bolts 40, and receiving the rod 39 is a member 41 which is attached to a piston rod 42 which is attached to a suitable piston which is received within the hydraulic cylinder 43, the character 44 indicating inlet openings suitably attached to hoses passing to the hydraulic pressure supply of the tractor for operating the piston.

The cylinder 43 is pivoted at 45 to the bracket 46 which is attached to the top wall 30.

The pulley 24 is attached to a shaft 47 which is journ-alled in the bearings 48 which are attached to the supports 49 which are secured to the wall 30*, and the shaft 47 is attached to a bevel gear 50 which engages a further bevel gear 51 secured to the centrally positioned shaft 52, the shaft 52 being attached to a pair of pulleys 53, the shaft 52 also being attached to the radially positioned rotating cutter blades 54, and there can be either two or more of such blades.

The character 55 indicates further shafts to which are attached the pulleys 56, and attached to these shafts are the further blades 54. The belts 57 engage the pulleys 53 and 56.

The arm 27 and the pulley 25 are spring-urged against the pulley 23 by means of a coil spring member 58.

Attached at 59 along the forward end of the wall 30 are the spaced guard members 60 which extend into the downwardly extending portions 61. The wall 30 can include a series of openings such as the openings 62 to provide for adjustable later-a1 positioning of the members 35 The device operates in the following manner. The operation of the cutter blades 54 is quite obvious from the description, the blades being rotated through the combination of the various drive arrangements such as the gears, belts, and pulley, all being operated from the pulley 13.

The device travels forwardly in the direction of the arrow 63, and is adapted to sever the weed tops through the rotation of the blades 54, the weeds being concentrated between the guard bars 60 to provide a positive cutting action, the downwardly turned portions 61 serving as a protective feature.

For adjustably positioning the cutting members at any desired heights, the hydraulic cylinder 43 is operated to correspondingly either raise or lower the cutting element, and for instance if the casing 30, 31, etc. is raised, the idler pulley 25 will be spring-urged in the direction of the arrow 64, so that at any selected height the idler pulley will be engaged with the belt 23.

Also the slots 37 will permit either side of the casing 30, 31, etc. to raise when encountering obstructions and the like.

The angle members 38 in combination with the rod 39 permits the members 16 to be secured at any desired lateral spacing by merely placing the bolts 40 in any of the openings in the angles 38. It will be noted that the engagement of the posts 34 with the members 33 provides stability of the cutters at all times.

Also, it will be noted that there are three angles 38 at either side of the arrangement, and this will allow for the use of cylinders and piston rods of different heights or ranges.

The principal use of the device is for soy bean crops, although it can be used on any crops, and it will cut away the weeds above the growing crop itself, and it will be noted that the adjustments can be made for any desired position, etc.

It will now be noted that I have provided the advantages mentioned in the objects of my invention with further advantages being apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. An adjustable weed cutter for soy bean crops comprising a pair of elongated transversely spaced support members secured to and extending forwardly of a tractor framework, vertically extending sockets attached to the free ends of said support members, spaced posts slidably received in said sockets, a horizontal casing having an upper wall attached to the lower ends of said posts, means for adjustably positioning said casing at selected heights, including a hydraulic cylinder secured to said wall, a transverse rod secured between said sockets, a piston rod operated by said cylinder being secured to said transverse rod, said sockets and said posts being generally rectangular in cross-section, rotatable weed cutting blades journalled in said wall, means for driving said blades including a belt engaging the power take-ofi pulley of said tractor, a further pulley mounted on one of said support members engaging said belt, a third pulley driven by said further pulley, a fourth pulley mounted on said wall and in driving relation to said blades, a further belt engaging said third and said fourth pulleys, an idler pulley engaging said further belt, said idler pulley being springurged to maintain said further belt in taut condition regardless of the height of said cutting member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,229,363 1/1941 Bishop 5625.4 2,578,963 12/1951 Bell 56-25.4 2,590,537 3/1952 Holmes 5625 3,115,739 12/1963 Thoen et al. 56-254 3,205,642 9/1965 Smith 5625.4 3,236,034 2/1966 Blettner 56-25.4

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

P. A. RAZZANO, Assistant Examiner. 

